SBF Second-Instance Appeal Officially Closed, 25-Year Sentence Upheld, Supreme Court Becomes Only Way Out

TechFlow news, August 5, according to BeInCrypto reports, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit officially issued the mandate in the SBF case on August 4, marking the official conclusion of Sam Bankman-Fried's second-instance appeal process. The one-page order confirmed upholding the original judgment without adding any new reasons, with his 25-year prison sentence and approximately $11 billion forfeiture order remaining unchanged. Previously on June 12, the panel rejected SBF's appeal on all seven charges, with Judge Parker pointing out in the opinion that while SBF publicly assured customers, investors, and regulators of the safety of FTX funds, he misappropriated customer funds for real estate, political donations, and personal investments.

Currently, SBF's only remaining judicial recourse is to file a petition for a writ of certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court within 90 days, but the Supreme Court's acceptance rate is extremely low. Additionally, SBF has separately submitted a pardon application to the Department of Justice, but Senators Cynthia Lummis and Ruben Gallego have jointly proposed a resolution opposing granting him a pardon.